Steen pitches Bozeman work delay

Delaying and breaking the long-awaited Bozeman Road widening project into pieces because of funding concerns was suggested by one county supervisor on Monday.

A heated exchange among the three Republican members of the board over roads got hotter when District 3 Supervisor Gerald Steen announced he wanted to chop up the long-awaited Bozeman Road project into pieces.

Casey Brannon of District 1 and Trey Baxter of District 2 attempted to re-advertise for bids on the project after the lone bidder came in several million dollars above construction estimates in the fall. 

Steen made a substitute motion though to have the county engineer come back with options on moving forward in phases instead. 

“We can move forward with bidding and still bring information back,” Baxter said. 

Steen then chastised the pair, saying if they were really interested in the project they would know where all the money is coming from to pay for it. 

“It would be nice if you would vote with the Republicans,” Baxter fired back, pointing to the fact that Steen often aligns himself with the two Democrats on the board. 

Steen later responded to what he called “Supervisor Baxter’s ridiculous statement.”

“From the very beginning, when a project comes in front of me, I don’t look at Republican, Democrat, black or white, male or female,” he said. “That’s what’s wrong with the county, with the country nowadays. Instead of looking at everything, everybody looks at left or right. I don’t look at it that way. Not going to start today and won’t change tomorrow. That’s where I stand on these issues, that’s where I’ll continue to be.”